News crews and reporters from Los Angeles’ major media outlets converged on the new Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center campus Monday morning (Sept. 22) to get a preview of the hospital before the upcoming inpatient move next month. Keck School of Medicine Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., welcomed reporters and honored guests to the tour, along with LAC+USC Chief Executive Officer Pete Delgado and LAC+USC Chief Medical Officer Stephanie Hall, M.D.

“The University of Southern California has been affiliated with this hospital for more than a hundred years,” said Puliafito. “This tremendous project is very important to USC and very important to the community. As dean of the medical school, I am excited to see this place open for our faculty, students, staff and the community.”

Some 500 faculty physicians of the Keck School of Medicine staff the teaching hospital along with more than 900 residents in training programs affiliated with the Keck School.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who represents much of East Los Angeles, including the new hospital, took the tour alongside reporters, getting a first-hand view of the neonatal intensive care unit, labor & delivery, and jail unit, among others.

Reporters gained access to areas of the new facility that will be difficult to see once it is fully operational, such as the emergency department and helipad. Also included in the tour were some of the areas in the new clinic tower, including pre-operation and dental clinic. The clinic tower opened to the public on Monday, Sept. 15.

Opening the hospital to the media is one of the final steps before patients and services from General Hospital and Women’s and Children’s Hospital move into the new facility Oct. 17 and 18. “This medical center is now starting to come to life,” said Delgado. “Our aim is to provide the right care, at the right place, at the right time.”

Before the tour began, Puliafito noted that, in addition to being dean, he would also have medical privileges at the new hospital. “I am excited to work in the new ophthalmology clinic here, which is really unparalleled among ophthalmology clinics anywhere,” he said.

Supervisor Molina and the LAC+USC Healthcare Network will host a community celebration, complete with the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, on Saturday, Oct. 4, beginning at 10 a.m. Community tours will follow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.